To be sick and tired of the fucking menopause?

[Miladymilord]

I'm in bed. Feel wide awake, alternatively hot then cold. I've got leg cramps, greasy hair (wtaf), I feel really grumpy. Can't relax. I know ill wake up again in about 3 hours, drenched in sweat with restless legs. It's totally shit.

@theendofeverything

My mother did, but I don't know if that is the same for all HRT.

Am sure the swearing helps

The joint and soft tissue problems are a big thing for me. I’ve had frozen shoulder, ankle problems, knee issues and now got hip bursitis and another frozen shoulder in the making (opposite side). I reckon they’re all connected to menopause.

BestIsWest the joint and muscle pain is the worst thing for me. Some mornings it is agony getting out of bed. I'm only 54 and it makes me feel so old and fucked.

ILoveAllRainbows thanks. The only good thing about menopause is no periods! I don't think I could bear having them again.

herb.co/marijuana/news/menopause-symptoms/
herb.co/marijuana/news/women-using-marijuana-health/
obvs these are from a pro cannabis website so it's a biased source but still food for though

I reckon they’re all connected to menopause
my understanding is that estrogen generally has an anti-inflammatory effect in the bodies tissues, so when it declines pain and other things associated with inflammation are more prevalent

So from Friday I am trialling:

Cyclical hrt
Lots of water
Apple cider vinegar in the morning

Am considering asking my friend for the cannabis oil thing but might wait until a couple of months of hrt.

I really want to:

Sleep better
Get rid of hot flushes
Feel less old and fucked, so less aches and pains and able to actually run a mile without feeling destroyed the next day
More sex drive would be nice

I've also got a stone in weight to lose as a matter of urgency

Apparently menopause causes the narrowing of tendons too.

Oh joy

It all sounds pretty shit doesn't it. I am on the peri end of the scale so still have periods, so none of the terrible physical symptoms, but I had bad anxiety, rage, brain fog and insomnia. HRT patches worked for me. What I don't understand is how it's so terrible for some of us, but Debbie McGee, Helen Mirren, Joanna Lumley etc, they must take something fgs. WHERE IS THE HOPE?????

I think it (peri) is making me deeply unsociable, is that a thing?
Used to be up for all sorts of hobbies and socialising but now can't be bothered at all.
also tiredness, memory loss, anxiety, doom and gloom. Lots of thoughts about death. And I'm not even into the hot flush zone yet. Oh the joys.

I will say my brain fog and anxiety has lifted a lot since the physical symptoms started. I do really stress, and have random episodes of THE RAGE, but feel a bit more on an even keel

That's oddly heartening milady

As I said above, not everyone has this. I've had no adverse effects. I've just noticed feeling more confident, less anxious about things. No physical effects.

I'm sure not all women get the physical symptoms. I wasn't expecting to, my mum didn't although she was a mess of rage and anxiety

Talking about joint issues, I have had hip bursitis diagnosed by my gp. the pain has been bad for 6 months. Im now on naproxen 3 times a day and if that doesn't help after a month im having cortisone injections in my hip.

I bloody love naproxen. I take it for my arthritic feet.

Am deeply peri (early ish too).
Has anyone tried Traditional Chinese Medicine? I ask because I farted about with chemist /health food shop supplements, and some of them helped a bit (agnus castus and evening primrose) but not much.
What really sorted it was a Chinese doctor giving me bags of foul smelling herbs to cook up, plus occasional acupuncture.
If the madness starts again I'm totally going to get HRT and a spliff but sweartogod the Chinese herbs were magic.

Chinese herbs can be tremendous in menopause but it's not cheap and it is foul

My physical symptoms have been minor and I'm post meno - but the emotional stuff has been awful

@lemonadefloat sums up what meno has been for me since peri to post - with tons of exhaustion and bad sleep (and bouts of hair loss thrown in)

Be careful with HRT as my mum suffered her first stroke within a couple of weeks of taking it (late 40s ) if you have any family history of strokes please avoid

That's interesting blogsshogs and thank goodness for this thread as it really is helpful to talk to others who get it. Do you feel any better now you are post and if you don't mind me asking, how long was the process? I reckon I've had these 'symptoms' 3-4 years but getting worse.

Interesting to hear some don't get the physical symptoms.

Sorry about your mum loubeylou

I often wonder what Mother Nature had in store for us when she came up with menopause. Make us into rageous harridans who stay in camp and tell everyone what to do. Handily have internal heating so no need to be sat too close to the camp fire.

@lemonadefloat I've had an early menopause - learnt at 40 as I was about to have DS that I'd be in meno by 45 and actually, by 46 my FSH levels were post meno. Despite HRT, I don't seem to be absorbing anything and I'm officially empty of estrogen and testosterone. That said, I am now trying a different HRT. If that doesn't work I will stop, irrelevant of concerns around osteoporosis etc (associated with early menopause)

Do I feel better now? Not yet. I know there is grace and balance to be had but I'm not there yet. But I feel ok. I eat really well and carefully, exercise a lot, sleep as much as I can - it all helps.

It's so hard. I really emphathise. I've had loads of days when I've thought about doing a Virginia Woolf - but it's more a thought process than a bid to harm myself, if that makes sense

For two years I was a bit crazy, overreacted to everything, went off in one and got the rage! It was only looking back I realised I didn't used to be like that, it must have been perimen. Now I'm a bit more rational, but my wrists, hips, neck, shoulders, hands, feet ache, I don't sleep much, waking up throughout the night, i have flushes day and night, my legs are restless, i have anxiety and depression, but had that anyway, but now much much worse and don't know if that's due to the menopause. My memory is getting worse and I forget halfway through a sentence what I wanted to say. Abd I've probably said all this before in this thread ...